Heir to the immense collection of 33 rpm records, CDs and documents of Claude Gingras, journalist at La Presse from 1953 until the end of 2015 and specialist in classical music, the University of Montreal (UdeM) intends to create a virtual showcase in order to highlight it for the benefit of the general public.
This is what the custodians of the collection explained to La Presse while the processing and cataloging of the collection are still under construction, more than five years after the death of our colleague on December 30, 2018. Because the task of going through 40,000+ documents is huge and complex.
“On the research side, it was necessary to ensure that each object in the collection was properly documented to create a specialized database. It’s researchers who will use it more,” says Stéphanie Gagnon, general director of the UdeM Libraries Department.
This showcase, the design of which was entrusted to the Montreal creative agency Kffein, will introduce the public to a small part of the critic’s collection. We won’t be able to digitize everything. However, UdeM wants to ensure that this tool will encourage the curious to go further in their knowledge of this exceptional gift.
What will this showcase be? “A discovery of the character Claude Gingras,” replies Morgane De Bellefeuille, deputy director of the Libraries Department. We will discover his profession as a critic as much as his method of collecting and the major subjects he covered. The showcase will provide an overview of his work through small extracts and notable moments from his career. But also significant moments in the history of Quebec music. »
Beyond the thousands of records, CDs and books in the collection, Claude Gingras had created and constantly updated abundant documentation associated with his work. This aspect of the collection is the most unique and is of great interest to depositaries. Mr. Gingras, for example, had compiled files on the OSM, the Orchester Métropolitain, Yanick Nézet-Séguin, Kent Nagano, the Lanaudière Festival, etc.
One of the rooms in the apartment our colleague lived in at Square Saint-Louis was filled with such thematic files.
According to Stéphanie Gagnon, it is very rare for a library to host such a large collection as that left by Claude Gingras. His treatment benefits from the philanthropic assistance of Ms. Jacqueline Desmarais (1928-2018) and her estate. The wife of Paul Desmarais (1927-2013), former president of Power Corporation, was a great classical music enthusiast and patron of the arts. She was also a friend of Claude Gingras and the two regularly discussed their common passion.
In total, the donation is $3 million.
Ms. Desmarais’ donation also provides grants to researchers whose work will require a more in-depth exploration of the collection. “Here, the Faculty of Music of UdeM is our number one partner,” says Stéphanie Gagnon.
Researchers have had access to the artifacts since September 2022. To view them, they must go to the university’s warehouse where the collection is still being processed and cataloged. They can also borrow certain documents.
During his lifetime, Claude Gingras requested that his donation be made available to the general public. This will be achieved in particular thanks to the virtual showcase, as we wrote above. But there are still elements to be defined.
“To promote the gift and create meaning through the immense collection, we needed an agency [Kffein] to support us in the scripting,” says Morgane De Bellefeuille. You have to find extracts, strong moments to highlight them and create a story that will arouse people’s interest. »
For an example of a virtual showcase, visit McGill University’s Reading with Austen website, through which visitors can explore the works that British author Jane Austen, famous for her novel Pride and Prejudice, consulted in the library of his brother Edward.
In the case of Claude Gingras, the virtual showcase could take the form of a reconstruction of his apartment to show how his possessions were classified. But many things remain to be defined and it is still too early to say whether the content of this showcase will be renewed over the years.
Finally, a gateway to the collection will also be created at the Faculty of Music library, because its students form one of the target audiences to whom it is aimed.